Audio Playback Volume Reset Using Acoustic Context
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Solution Overview
Problem
Audio systems often resume playback at an inconvenient volume level for subsequent users, potentially startling them due to lack of user-controlled volume resetting based on environmental conditions.
Innovation Solution
An audio system with a processor that conditionally resets the volume parameter based on acoustic factors such as room gain, time of day, and user presence, ensuring a comfortable listening experience by adjusting the volume to a suitable level when playback is resumed after a pause.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the audio system resumes playback at the previous volume level, then the user experience is consistent and predictable, but subsequent users may be startled by unexpectedly high volume
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of environmental conditions (acoustic factors, time of day, user presence) before resuming playback, and pre-adjusts the volume parameter accordingly. This advance preparation prevents the harmful effect of startling subsequent users while maintaining reliability for returning users.
Solution Approach 2:
The volume parameter is made dynamic rather than static, allowing it to change based on real-time environmental conditions. The system continuously monitors acoustic factors and adjusts the reset volume level accordingly, enabling adaptive behavior that resolves the contradiction between consistency and user comfort.
2Ease of operation
If the audio system resets volume to a fixed resting level, then subsequent users experience comfortable volume, but the system lacks adaptability to different environmental conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the volume parameter based on detected environmental conditions such as acoustic factors, time of day, and user presence. By dynamically adjusting the reset volume level according to these parameters, the system achieves both user comfort and environmental adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms that monitor environmental conditions and use this information to determine appropriate volume reset levels. This feedback loop enables the system to adapt to different environments while maintaining comfortable listening experiences for users.
3Ease of operation
If the audio system monitors acoustic factors to determine reset volume, then the listening experience is optimized, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The processor is designed to perform multiple functions including audio playback control, environmental condition monitoring, and volume parameter adjustment. By making the processor multi-functional, the system achieves optimized listening experiences without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An audio system having a variable reset volume, and a method of conditionally resetting a volume parameter, are described. The audio system can include a processor to generate an audio signal for a speaker to convert into a sound. A volume parameter of the audio signal can be set before a user pauses playback of the audio signal. The processor can determine that the volume parameter is outside of a resting volume range, and that the user resumes playback of the audio signal at least a selected interval after pausing playback. The processor can responsively reset the volume parameter when playback is resumed to a different level based on one or more acoustic factors, such as an audio decay time of a surrounding environment. The different level can be within the resting volume range. Other aspects are also described and claimed.